2025-04-02 19:51:00
There was a lovely moment in the Acquired podcast episode with Howard Schultz where they discussed the Starbucks mobile app.
Howard’s reflection was that while the mobile app was undoubtedly seductive, the trade-off is that it has significantly hit the Starbucks experience. It replaced that intimate connection between barista and customer with a connection with the app.
There was a moment around then when one of the podcast hosts said – “I look at the mobile app and see which Starbucks around me is accepting mobile orders. If a store isn’t accepting mobile orders, I don’t go there.”
“That breaks my heart.” was Howard’s pithy response.
I was struck by this discussion and reflection. Every growth strategy has trade-offs. I’m sure the numbers from Starbucks’ app made the strategy feel trade-off free. Higher utilization, record usage, and so on.
But the trade-offs existed. And it would have taken a very disciplined and thoughtful team to say no to immediate explosive growth.
It’s just really hard to do.
Every decade has a few breakout hit – ChatGPT, for example, looks to be that business for this decade. Outside of a few other exceptions, you are just doing your best to eke out some respectable set of growth numbers.
And, in the face of those challenges, saying no to something that makes you money is the test of all tests.
Then again, values aren’t values unless they cost us money.
That’s why it is infinitely easier to talk about values than it is to live by them.
2025-04-01 19:09:00
One of the biggest themes from Matt Ridley’s book “How Innovation Works” is about the intersection between human nature and innovation.
Throughout history, when science has taken two steps forward, humans have done everything in their power to take at least one step back.
It is why, for example, it took 200 years for the western world to accept potatoes. There were all sorts of unsubstantiated prejudices that the potato had to overcome. Potatoes were initially banned in countries like England because clergyman didn’t believe they were fit to be eaten as they were not mentioned in the Bible.
Then, there was a prevailing belief at the time that vegetables had an effect on the body based on how they looked. Potatoes looked like a finger with leprosy, and thus there was a belief they might cause leprosy.
This is a pattern that has repeated throughout the millenia.
When we understand those patterns, it is a lot easier to understand similar behavior today.
For example, the state of Utah has decided to ban fluoride in municipal water. It is one of those examples of upstream intervention that I’ve written about, and it has a long and distinguished history going back to John Leal saving lives in New Jersey with Chlorination.
Similarly, measles was considered eliminated in the US since 2000. But growing vaccine resistance have resulted in the first major outbreak in decades.
History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes.
2025-03-31 22:04:00
We saw Disneynature’s “Tigers on the Rise” documentary recently. It is a continuation of their excellent work on Tiger. Tigers on the Rise delves into the day-to-day complexities of a growing tiger population in a country with high population density. 4 reflections –
(1) The first requirement for conservation is to transform the economy. For example, tigers, deer, and farmers were near the Tadoba national reserve were in constant conflict when farmers took their cows to graze. The forest officials then changed the rules and offered farmers cash incentives to take their cows away from the reserve.
That meant more deer and more tigers – this, in turn, meant more revenue from tourism for the local community and for the National park system. A nice example of systems change.
(2) In areas near National reserves, tigers often prey on cows. One intervention that has worked remarkably well is painting a pair of eyes on a cow’s backside. It gives the tiger the impression it is being watched.
Small creatives changes can have meaningful impact.
(3) A lovely part of the documentary was the spotlight on the city of Bhopal. The citizens of Bhopal have shown a remarkable acceptance toward tigers in the city’s landscape. The female tiger the documentary followed did her part too – always stepping out late at night once her human neighbors were asleep.
Incredible.
(4) The documentary did a great job emphasizing themes of education, action , tolerance, and balance. For example, they go to lengths to educate villagers surrounding tiger habitat to leave the forest by evening and to avoid crouching.
Tigers avoid humans as a rule. But a crouching human can look like prey.
When an unfortunate tiger killing happens, the conservation team immediately takes action, locating the tiger, and transferring him/her to a zoo. They’ve also begun experimenting with proactive action – moving tigers from human-dense areas to forests where they can find mates.
But, most of all, it emphasizes the importance of tolerance and the work it takes to keep our ecosystems in balance.
A lovely documentary full of lessons for all of us. Exceptional work, Disneynature team – well played!
2025-03-30 19:17:00
Seth reminded me of an old post of his about Sprezzatura. In his words –
This is an archaic Italian word for being able to do your craft without a lot of visible effort. It’s a combination of elan and grace and class, sort of the opposite of loud grunts while you play tennis or a lot of whining and fuss when you help out a customer.
Many people are unable to put their finger on it, but this is a magnetic trait for many of us.
I’ve been watching bits of Roger Federer’s parting video memoir documenting his final 12 days as a tennis player culminating in an emotional doubles game with Rafa Nadal as his partner.
It was a lovely documentary that sparked many emotions and, as expected, tears. It was particularly lovely to see his fiercest rivals burst into tears as he said goodbye.
There’s a lot to be said about Roger Federer’s impact on tennis. His title count has since been surpassed by Rafa Nadal and now Novak Djokovic.
But greatness goes beyond titles.
And Roger’s greatness arguably is best explained by… sprezzatura.
2025-03-29 19:49:00
A truth about product and company building at a time where technology assumptions are shifting and capital/investment is constrained – you’re either moving with intensity toward a solution that step-changes your ability to solve real customer problems or you’re going to spend all your time getting randomized because someone else is doing so.
There were periods when it was okay to chase small incremental wins or attempt to keep working old playbooks.
These aren’t those times.
2025-03-28 22:04:00
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz told a fascinating story about his return to the company in 2008. For a collection of reasons, Starbucks was in disarray and was months away from being insolvent.
During this time, he was introduced to Steve Jobs and he began telling Steve about some of his problems over a call. Steve asked him to come over to Cupertino so they could take a walk and talk it over.
During the walk, Howard laid out all the problems he was facing and what he was planning to do about it. After listening to it all, Steve practically screamed – “You know what you should do? Fire your executive team.”
Howard’s response was along the lines of “C’mon, I can’t do that. Who will do the work?”
To this, Steve shared that he thought they’ll all be gone in the next 6 months anyway.
9 months or so later, there was one person from that team left. When Howard next met Steve, he told him his prediction had come through. And Steve just pointed out that he could have saved himself from time.
This incident reminded me of a powerful note from former Snowflake CEO Kevin Slootman’s book – “Years ago, I used to hesitate and wait situations out, often trying to fix underperforming people or products instead of pulling the plug. Back then I was seen as a much more reasonable and thoughtful leader — but that didn’t mean I was right. As I got more experience, I realized that I was often just wasting everybody’s time. If we knew that something or someone wasn’t working, why wait? As the saying goes, when there is doubt, there is no doubt.”
When there is doubt, there is no doubt.
